Psalm 23 - ONCE again, HOPE

I was moved to write last night. That hasn’t happened in awhile. It came in the strangest way…one totally unexpected. The Oscars were on my TV mostly as background noise while I mindlessly played Spider Solitaire on my computer. I didn’t have vested interest in who won or lost because I really hadn’t seen any of the nominated movies. Or at least, I didn’t think that I had. Then at one point my attention was grabbed as they introduced one of the nominated songs. Wait a minute…..I did see that movie. It was a low budget, yet critically acclaimed, movie from Ireland that I saw on DVD last fall entitled “Once”. It’s sort of a musical…but not. It follows the passions and dreams of two musicians from complicated lives whose paths cross as their journey is played out in song. Music, after all, was the connecting force. It isn’t your typical let’s interrupt this scene with a song and dance number. The songs flow naturally as part of their dialogue. There they were last night, on stage at the Oscars, singing my favorite song from the movie....“Falling Slowly”. It is a hauntingly beautiful song of hope and possibilities. I loved that this “little movie that could” had been recognized in the big budget world of Hollywood. I love that it was performed in such a simplistically understated way by its composers…the very ones that had brought it to life on screen. Who better to convey the message than the one from whose heart it was born. One of my favorite things was something that maybe no one really noticed…his guitar.




It displayed his passion. The face of the guitar bore the scars of life on the road. It was the visible evidence of many hours of being the instrument that conveyed the melody that gave life to the lyrics of the story being told. I LOVED that this guitar hadn’t been replaced by a perfect, shiny new model for this “special occasion”. Everything about the Oscars is about glitz and glamour and yet here center stage was this aged, worn, road-weary guitar that had cosmetically seen better days proudly proclaiming melodically….

Falling slowly, eyes that know me
And I can't go back
Moods that take me and erase me
And I'm painted black
You have suffered enough
And warred with yourself
It's time that you won


Take this sinking boat and point it home
We've still got time
Raise your hopeful voice you had a choice
You've made it now


I loved that this guitar had its well deserved moment.
AND I love that this song of hope…of possibilities…WON!

Check out the song at:
http://video.music.yahoo.com/up/music/music/?rn=1301797&vid=57088007